With the news that Mayor Lioneld Jordan is considering going where Dan Coody seemed afraid to go - universal Internet access throughout Fayetteville (http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/74901/) - it might be good to remember that the Telecomm Board was one of the prime forces for making folks in Fayetteville aware of the possibilities and opportunities inherent in citywide broadband.

Not only did the Telecomm Board have several meetings where experts were invited to speak on the subject, but the TB actually held a public forum (remember those?) on the subject a few years ago.

A lot of aspersions have been cast on the TB of late, accusing them of becoming a sort of parody of itself, concerned mostly with enless discussions of policy and procedure, and procedure and policy, and arcane matters which voters - and long-time supporters of the TB - have lost patience with.

Instead of conducting meetings that serve as a soporific, dealing with matters that require a “Previously on the Telecomm Board” opener, the TB should throw itself anew into the Wi-Fi efforts.

And, oh yeah. Enough people are complaining behind the scenes about the AT&T contract, that it is more than worth the TB’s time to revisit that issue, as well.

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Note to TB: Robert’s Rules of Order - Get ride of it!

It is a fact that Robert's Rules of Order stifles discussion. It is designed, at least in part, to control and limit the scope of debate.

I have been reading a lot over the years about the dreaded RROO. I am far from the only person in the world who despises them.

I like passion and eloquence, and have always felt that the slavish devotion on the part of some to the RROC is the result of the fear of some bland individuals have toward those whose arguments they cannot hope to counter.

No one really benefits from the adoption of these debate/discussion killing rules, except the bland, the boring, and those who feel that boredom should be the rule of the day.

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Quote of the Day

We appreciate frankness from those who like us. Frankness from others is called insolence. - Andre Maurois

Many years ago I saw Carroll O’Connor (“Archie Bunker” - All in the Family) discussing the program with Dick Cavett, and explaining how many people simply did not get the satirical nature of the program. As if to prove that point, along comes Michael W. Collins in today’s NWA Times, with an hysterical screed against Episcopal priest (and NWA Times columnist) Lowell Grisham, and anyone else with a liberal notion in their body.

To prove one of his points, he quotes Archie Bunker. Not only that, but he uses the self-damning phrase, “Once again, Archie Bunker nails it . . .”

This means that Comrade Collins has gone to the Well of Bunker more than once, I think.

In the Cavett interview, O’Connor quoted George Bernard Shaw, who said that satire is what closes on Saturday night. In Shaw’s day, as in ours, the satire is lost on lots of people.

And Michael Collins is such a cool name, too, for those who know their history.

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Goddess Festival: Spring Equinox

This is from the good folks who are putting on the Goddess Festival, which begins next week.

The Goddess Festival invites you to celebrate Spring Equinox with a free ritual at 7pm and a special performance at 8pm. The Shaumbra Dance Theater Company of Eureka Springs presents the Sacred Path Prayerformance: a combination of ballet, theatre and improvisation. Journey to the center of yourself and expand your vision of what is possible. ($15 admission at the door) Ultra Studios, 118 South Street (corner Archibald Yell Blvd.)